Knife Making: Acid Etched Dagger

I made this dagger from scratch using 1095 steel and a handmade black and blue micarta handle with brass pins. This was my first attempt at making a dagger and it came out very well. I made some mistakes here and there, but I tried fixing what I could. This knife has a convex grind which I really like the look of. It was then acid etched in a simple solution that everyone has at home - lemon juice.

Check out the making of the micarta for the handle:    • Making Micarta Handle Scales For A Dagger  

Reconstituted lemon juice acid etch:    • Will It Rust? Reconstituted Lemon Juice (F...  

Why lemon juice? Because I wanted to demonstrate that most things you have around your house can have the alternative purpose of etching / forcing a patina on any high carbon knife.

Materials:
1095 High Carbon Steel
1/8" Brass Pins
1/4" Brass Tubing
Old Shirts and Jeans
Fiberglass Resin
30 Minute Epoxy

Tools and Equipment:
Various Files (Single-Cut, Double-Cut, Half Round, Three Square, Round, Flat, etc)
Hacksaw
Craftsman 2x42 Belt Sander
Dremel
Angle Grinder
Drill Press
Propane Torch
Homemade Forge
Lots of Sandpaper

All of these tools can be replaced by simpler/cheaper or better/more expensive ones if you don't have my exact equipment. This knife was made with relatively simple tools, but all you need is a hacksaw, files, and drill. The entire knife (not counting the micarta handle) can be made using just those three tools. The drill isn't even necessary, as you can just glue the handle scales onto the blade without pins. It won't hold up as long as the pinned handle, but it will work.

Check out my other videos and subscribe; I will have many more knife making videos coming out shortly.


Sharp Works